Maintaining/losing weight and mental illness, possible CFS/ME

KeshNZ
KeshNZ Posts: 73 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How do you maintain/lose weight if you are fighting mental illness?

I've battled depression for at least 14 years, and anxiety/panic attacks for around 4 years. For the last few years I've been doing OK, I manage to work, have some close friends, I volunteer on weekends, I could cycle to and from work and was a regular at the gym for strength training. Nowadays I find it's a huge mental battle just to get out of bed each day, let alone get up, go for a walk/run/cycle/gym session. I'm drained by the time I get to work completely exhausted when I get home each day. I eat relatively well but I struggle to get out of the house to exercise and I find little joy in any exercise I do. This has resulted in a steady weight gain and I'm now 5-10 kg overweight (depending on which chart you read). The only exercises I really enjoy are yoga and hiking outside of the city (which I can only do on weekends).

Sometimes if I force myself to workout I feel so horrible afterwards that it takes me 2 days to recover from the severe fatigue, muscle aches and dizzy spells. For a long time I've thought that I have CFS/ME, but doctors seem to be unwilling to diagnose this, or they don't believe it's a real condition.

What does one do in this situation?

Replies

  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
    The best thing you could do for yourself is find a professional psychologist or clinical counselor in your area who uses a cognitive behavioral approach and is experienced with working with mood disorders and weight loss, and look there for advice rather than in a public forum like this one.

    The Beck Diet Solution uses a cognitive behavioral approach to weight management, and might be helpful to you -- but I suspect making real progress will be difficult unless you also address the mood problems. Good luck.

    http://www.beckdietsolution.com
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Are you taking any anti-depressants? They can be mildly to majorly sedating. My mom just started on one to help her sleep and she had to quarter the dose - the first day she was like a zombie.

    Wellbutrin is an anti-depressant that's a little speedy. I found it in 2000 when I thought I had CF but it turned out to be a combination of the foods I was eating and not eating as well as being too sedentary - moderate movement gives me energy.

    What's a workout that leaves you exhausted for two days? Maybe you're pushing yourself too hard.
  • KeshNZ
    KeshNZ Posts: 73 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Are you taking any anti-depressants? They can be mildly to majorly sedating. My mom just started on one to help her sleep and she had to quarter the dose - the first day she was like a zombie.

    Wellbutrin is an anti-depressant that's a little speedy. I found it in 2000 when I thought I had CF but it turned out to be a combination of the foods I was eating and not eating as well as being too sedentary - moderate movement gives me energy.

    What's a workout that leaves you exhausted for two days? Maybe you're pushing yourself too hard.

    I take 25mg of Valdoxan daily.

    Pretty much any strenuous activity that gets my heart rate up for over a few minutes. It can be a brisk walk, cycling up an incline, weight training, having to run for more than a couple of minutes, even doing too much housework can wear me down!
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    I have seasonal depression, which tends to recur (to varying degrees of severity) every winter. Fatigue and depression are closely linked, and it's kind of a chicken-and-the-egg situation; it's hard to tell which is the cause and which is the symptom, so I think it's best to try to treat both regardless. I've described my particular brand of depression-related fatigue as inertia in the past.

    The most important thing for me is to be gentle with myself and not push. I have enough noise in my head telling me I'm worthless, so the last thing I want to do is to add to that message. When my depression is really loud, I focus on eating balanced meals at somewhat regular intervals (because not eating or eating unbalanced meals tends to tank my blood sugar and that always makes me feel worse), getting in some kind of easy physical activity every day because it helps me connect with my body and get out of my head (walking outside and stretching are wonderful), and letting myself be okay with stopping if I feel like it. Running myself into the ground is a bad idea just generally, but especially if I'm fighting depression too, because that in itself takes an enormous amount of energy. One year, I had to sit in the gym parking lot every visit for about three weeks and talk myself into going in; the only way it worked was for me to say "I'll stay for 5 minutes and then let myself leave if I still feel terrible." Typically, I'd start to feel better after that 5 minutes, but I needed to give myself permission to listen to my body and change the plan if it felt counter-productive.

    I know you've said it's hard to exercise after you get home; could you go for a 5-minute walk outside when you get home instead? Deep belly breathing and listening that any music that you love (or audiobooks) are definitely encouraged. Then, only if it feels good, you can keep going.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    I'm sorry you're struggling with this! It does seem like something has shifted for you. I would really recommend seeking a licensed counselor to help you sort through what you're experiencing, what triggers there are and maybe evaluate your meds.

    If you're not happy with how you're feeling, I don't think you should have to settle for this as a "new normal."
  • deannaaaaaaaaa
    deannaaaaaaaaa Posts: 238 Member
    Friend me if you'd like! I'm also battling mental illness (anxiety disorder) while re-losing weight :)
  • mommamia30189
    mommamia30189 Posts: 82 Member
    I also have mental illness, several things actually- including depression, bipolar, and anxiety. It is tough getting yourself in the right frame of mind, but i can truly attest that getting on the right medication is one of the main things you can do. It took a long time for me to get on the right combination of meds so that i can function as a normal adult. Its tough, you are welcome to friend me also. I will talk anytime.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    I'd second perhaps discussing trying other meds.

    But, you don't need to exercise to lose weight. That can come from diet alone. I haven't been doing as much exercise as usual the last few weeks due to my mental health giving me a good kicking but aside from this week (where I have accidentally but willingly fallen into a diet break week) I have managed to keep tracking and keep my losses at 0.5lbs per week. In fact that pretty much goes for the entirety of this year. Tracking my intake is the one thing I can keep grip on so I do. Exercise happens when it happens, sometimes it's a lot, sometimes it's a little or none. I just view that as bonus eats!

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